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Hastings Medical Clinic: Marketing Struggles and Data-Driven Solutions

Sevinj Iskandarova, Neha Mittal, Sheri Lambert

Product #:W47498
Supplier:Ivey/Temple
Discipline:Management Science, Marketing
Setting:United States, 2024
Details:Case (PDF) • 9 pages • 2026-03-17

Subjects:

Sales and marketingAnalytics and data scienceMarketingData scienceMarketing strategyStrategy

Industries:

Health insurance industry

Geography:

United StatesNorth America
Your Price:$10.54

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In April 2024, Jonathan Shomo, a physician assistant and owner of Hastings Medical Clinic in Bridgewater, Virginia, confronted a crisis threatening the survival of his primary care practice. Shomo had built the clinic around near-constant availability, modern diagnostic technology, and personalized service, financing expensive equipment and operations through significant loans and fixed monthly costs nearing US$12,000. Yet, patient visits had dropped by half, and recent investments in marketing agencies, social media advertising, and a redesigned website had failed to reverse the decline. Mounting financial pressure forced Shomo to reconsider how he attracted, served, and retained patients. He needed to weigh options ranging from redefining service offerings and pricing to restructuring outreach, partnerships, and operations, knowing the move would determine the clinic’s future.

Learning Objectives

This case is well suited for undergraduate marketing courses, including services marketing, digital marketing strategy, and entrepreneurship and small business management. It can also be effectively integrated into modules focusing on marketing strategy in professional services, brand–market alignment, and community-based marketing in conservative or rural contexts.

The case examines the marketing missteps, strategic positioning issues, and mismatch between digital branding and community values that contributed to this decline. Students are asked to assess Hastings’ current marketing strategy, explore alternative approaches to reach local target segments, and recommend how Jonathan Shomo can rebuild demand while maintaining the clinic’s mission-driven ethos. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:

  • Analyze marketing challenges for small service-based businesses in competitive, resource-constrained environments.
  • Evaluate the fit between marketing strategy and target market values, particularly when digital marketing may conflict with local demographics or culture.
  • Apply the 7Ps of services marketing (product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence) to assess service delivery and customer experience.
  • Apply the concept of customer lifetime value to evaluate the total anticipated revenue generated from a customer throughout their relationship with a company.
  • Visualize the marketing channel using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool (Tableau).
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Case Study: Hastings Medical Clinic: Marketing Struggles and Data-Driven Solutions (English version) | Ivey Publishing